LAPD beating victim Rodney King arrested for alleged drug use and exposing himself

Published Monday, October 01, 2001

POMONA, Calif. (AP) -- Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by police officers led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, has been arrested for allegedly being under the influence of a psychedelic drug and exposing himself.

King, 36, was arrested Saturday following a traffic stop near a Pomona park. According to police, King displayed symptoms of PCP intoxication.

He was a passenger in a vehicle near the park driven by an unidentified woman, Pomona police Lt. Dave Keetle told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

Officers had responded to a report that King was bothering people, jumping on an ice chest and exposing himself to others.

King, of Altadena, was at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Saturday night, waiting to be medically cleared before being transferred to Pomona City Jail.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in Pomona for another misdemeanor drug charge stemming from an Aug. 28 arrest.

King has twice spent 90 days in jail for misdemeanor domestic abuse convictions in the past few years.

He remains on probation in San Bernardino County for a March 1999 incident in which he admitted abusing the mother of his teen-age daughter in Fontana.

King's 1991 beating led to riots when four officers were acquitted of state charges. Two of the officers were later convicted in federal court of violating King's civil rights.

King also won a $3.8 million settlement in a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.